Solum: Mogwai and Humans
Author's Note: It's been a while since I've touched up on lore, so I looked through the Specter gossip and H.M.S. Tenebro logs to refresh my memory. Here, I merely went by what was written in-game and expanded on a few things that were only briefly mentioned in order to be as thorough as possible. Despite all the magic, it's best to look at Solum as a whole in a scientific light since HEARTBEAT is technically sci-fi fantasy. Treat Mogwai, Xoth, Epsilonians and Solum humans as aliens. -Shepple, Creator of HEARTBEAT Mogwai are creatures found all over Solum, and they play a pivotal role in HEARTBEAT. Most Mogwai species are based on cryptids and various mythologies, though many of them take liberties with the base concepts. Mogwai thrive on nature and oppose human industrialism since the latter weakens magic around Solum. While their relationship with Solum's humans can be a finicky one, they helped greatly influence their society and vice versa. Mogwai All Mogwai believe they were created from five initial Mogwai. These five are considered gods responsible for restoring Solum. After some time, the power of the gods waned, and they created one final Mogwai to oversee the restoration effort. Mogwai revered this final offering as "the Queen." While Mogwai live under the Queen, most of them often do as they please and create mini-societies in their home areas. This results in mayors and elders overseeing certain populations of Mogwai whenever needed. Some Mogwai are complete anarchists, and some exploit other Mogwai. They often do things arbitrarily and are quite temperamental, which results in copious fighting, which the species is known for due to their hardy natures. Mogwai are also known to eat each other, which is something most Mogwai do not consider taboo due to their longevity and efficient reproductive capabilities. Mogwai are not known to eat humans, although some might, especially Tiny Oni. Humans Technically Solum humans, also known as Tenebrean humans due to the solar system they attempted to colonize, aren't the same as us as humans (or humans in our universe), they're their own species. It would be more accurate to call them voyagers or explorers, but for the sake of convenience, they will be referred to as humans. They originated on the planet Solum, co-evolving with Mogwai initially, but left eons ago then returning after angering the Xoth. They share many similarities with Earth humans, mostly in terms of biology, but certain traditions, customs, and abilities are different. For one thing, Solum humans can utilize magic, though it can be dampened when the human feels no need to practice it, especially with the advent of rediscovering technology. Solum is a planet that's hyper-charged with magic, so long as its natural resources are left unharmed, allowing humans to partake in it. Any human can practice magic, if they please. However, magic becomes weaker in a world that doesn't need it, which is why in HEARTBEAT, there are constant disputes over humans building over Mogwai land. Relationship between Mogwai and Humans Mogwai are Solum natives, and initially co-evolved with humans. For Mogwai, this allowed them to take on humanoid forms as a type of camouflage. This is similar to dogs co-evolving with humans, in comparison to their wolf ancestors. Dogs are omnivores, due to adjusting their eating habits alongside humans, whereas wolves are true carnivores. All this is due to human intervention, as is what happened with Mogwai. This benefits the Mogwai, an animalistic being, when it comes to general societal integration with the more advanced race, which in this case are the humans. Their humanoid form is predetermined from the start, and is usually based on their original Mogwai form. There are certain shape-shifting Mogwai, such as Tanuki, that can take on other forms, but this takes up more energy than their default humanoid form. Some Mogwai can adopt a form between their default and humanoid forms. This is usually done for aesthetic reasons, but current Mogwai seem to view humanoid forms as a show of power or even mockery, so Mogwai that use this in-between form are doing this to stay neutral between parties. Some take on humanoid forms but with ears, tails, or horns still visible. Cores A Mogwai's life force depends on a star-shaped organ called a "core" which is housed inside its body. For the most part, it acts as an energy furnace. Whatever a Mogwai ingests is burned into the core and recycled through the body as magical energy. Due to this, Mogwai are able to eat anything (though they are still able to judge taste) and don't expel waste. Normally, bigger Mogwai require more sustenance, but a lethargic Mogwai of such size can choose not to eat for a long time. Such as Tiny Oni, small Mogwai that have a penchant for bursts of energy usually eat continuously. The core is malleable and can be divided in half to reproduce, or have pieces removed to offer allies emotional keepsakes. The core can still function at half, but any more than that will render a Mogwai incapacitated until the core fully repairs itself. Depending on whatever intent the core was charged with, pieces removed from it will have that intent permanently stuck to them, allowing them to be used for things such as egg spawning/reproduction, or building artificial cores. The latter is usually the default state, but artificial cores must be built carefully as to not distress the Mogwai transplanted with it. Without the use of brute force, Mogwai can touch or pull out pieces of their own cores. Certain Mogwai, such as Reapers or Kunekune, have the ability to reach in without having to slice a Mogwai in half, and interact with cores that aren't their own. Depending on the intent, this can be a painful process. While a Mogwai can die from distress, the quickest way to kill a Mogwai is by crushing the core. Elements Most Mogwai are born with one of ten elements: Light, Shadow, Flora, Water, Fire, Ice, Earth, Volt, Wind, and Toxin. Some Mogwai are born without any affinities, rendering them Null-element, similar to humans and most regular Solum fauna. Each element, besides Null, has one it is strong against, and one it is weak against, maintaining a closed-circuit cycle of strengths and weaknesses. Other than Wisps, which are element-locked to Ice, a Mogwai's species does not determine what element they have, though it can determine how common an element is for Mogwai. For example, most seafaring Mogwai are born Water-element. There is another category called "Chicken element," which does not have any strengths or weaknesses and can only be acquired by chickens. Its true nature remains unknown to both humans and Mogwai. Phases/Sex: Mogwai/Human Mogwai are either Yin or Yang. Like the fleshy inner-nodes that determine what element a Mogwai is, their phases can be read through viscera that normally wraps around their core. Their phase determines how a Mogwai's body develops. Yin and Yang are ALMOST analogous to male and female for humans, mainly in terms of body, which is how Mogwai determine what a human is, since it is their closest reference point. Mogwai rarely ever use the terms "female" or "male," unless they are conversing with a human, since that would be the humans' reference point. While Solum humans normally refer to themselves as "female" or "male," aboard H.M.S. Tenebro, it is shown that Solum scientists scientifically label analogous lifeforms with X or Y for whether it's female or male, respectively, based on chromosomal composition. note: while it would be more accurate to write it as SRY- and SRY+, it's less clunkier and less confusing to do it as the former since they are differing letters. Still, phases have many differences to human sex. It's easier to imagine using the following model: Yin Mogwai are yellow aliens, Yang Mogwai are purple aliens. While both are different colors and prefer the company of similarly colored aliens, they are of the same stock and can cross-breed. This is similar to certain equine animals where horses prefer to breed with horses, but a horse can mate with a donkey to produce a sterile mule, although in the case of Mogwai, the offspring would not be sterile and can still breed despite the cross. In-game examples would be Kon Verrine, born from Han (Yin) and Long (Yang); or Peppy Jack, born from Chee (Yin) and Guru Mac (Yang). Humanoid Form Differences Going back to camouflage and humanoid forms, similar to a human female, a Yin Mogwai's humanoid form will be less muscled than a Yang Mogwai, which copies the form of a human male. A fully-grown Yang Mogwai's humanoid form will also have broader shoulders, longer/squared chins, larger ribcages, and a lack of hip width compared to Yin Mogwai. A Yang Mogwai's humanoid form will always be bulkier and taller, usually reaching taller than 6 ft. (182 cm), whereas it's incredibly rare for a Yin Mogwai to break said height in their humanoid form. On top of appearance, their voices also develop similarly to a human's, which means Yin and Yang Mogwai have differently pitched voices, where adult Yang Mogwai will have deeper voices or a lower-sounding timbre. So, yes, while a Mogwai's humanoid form copies the basics of individuality (hair, face, skin), they are smooth in the groin area or in the chest region, unless they wish to emulate further. If it is unnecessary or unseen, such as internal organs like stomachs or intestines, they will usually choose not to mimic them. Despite this, their Mogwai form will vary depending on what type of Mogwai they are. A Yin Isonade may be shorter than a Yang Isonade in humanoid form, but significantly larger in her default Mogwai form compared to a Yang Isonade in his default Mogwai form. However, some are completely analogous, like a Yin Gyochu will be much smaller in both humanoid and Mogwai form compared to a Yang Gyochu which would be larger in both forms. Phases and Non-Solumians Non-humans can be read as Yin/Yang as well, unless their species are too far away from a Mogwai reference point. An example of this would be Xothians and Epsilonians. Epsilonians are caste-based and choose to create other Epsilonians depending on which units are needed; there are no parents involved. Their reproduction is done by splicing viable genes, expelled via sockets in their hands, from mulitple individuals. For Xothians, on top of having "atypical" body types that Mogwai cannot relate with, they require three parental units to create offspring: a donor, a facilitator, and an incubator. From Luca's comment on Mott having a compartment to hold eggs, Mott would fall under the incubator category, which isn't analogous to Mogwai phases. As both these species are far too removed to be analogous to Mogwai, Mogwai just label creatures like Xothians or Epsilonians as "Unreadable." The same can be applied to mega-fauna that reside in REM Adlands such as God or the Tindalos Hounds. They can also be considered "Unreadable." Reading Phases or Auras That's not to say the Mogwai's system of identification is perfect since Solum humans are prone to abnormalities of the body. Similar to shared hexadecimal strings in old code, certain abnormalities in a Solum human will inhibit specific pheromones Mogwai can normally read or identify. A nearly identical analogy for this would be like editing specific numerical values of a hexadecimal string in a video game by opening the menu screen a certain number of times which then alters a seemingly unrelated object later, such as a scene switch point to transfer players to endgame rooms instead of the proper room, since both strings turned out to be shared. You can see this utilized in video game speedruns that allow glitches. For example: + y = n * x = A human condition * y = The state of being human (from attraction to illnesses) * n = How the human is read For a Mog, if y is altered, n would be read differently, and this is also different from how a human reads it. One example would be = female with = attraction to other females then = viable Yin Conjurer to a Mogwai, but a human would read this as a different state entirely which would just be "human female." Mogwai also tend to read this by determining a human's reaction to certain chemicals, as well as being able to identify the size of said human's hypothalamus via smell alone, since Mogwai have excellent senses of smell. As stated by several Specters in Sunwich, another specific example for Mogwai is if = male but = attracted to females and allergic reaction to nickel having the allergy as an added value. To humans, n would read as "human male allergic to nickel," but to Mogwai, this abnormality makes them unable to read properly and, to them, this makes a human neither Yin or Yang and thus the term Wuji is used. Oddly enough, this only applies to this specific allergy. Non-Conjurer humans can be Wuji as well, as shown in here. However, Wuji Conjurers end up slightly bypassing a magic-limit for pacting with Mogwai, where Wuji Conjurers can pact with up to three instead of just two. An in-game example would be Eve Xin. She is read as Wuji, allowing her to bypass the pact limit, but is still referred to as female by other humans, and is able to reproduce as a human female. There are no Wuji Mogwai, and only humans with nickel allergy can be read as Wuji by Mogwai. Mogwai can only be either Yin or Yang. On top of this allergy, Wuji humans also have a tendency to live longer due to their bodies being more receptive to magic around Solum that normally power Mogwai. However, being Wuji does not necessarily mean someone is compatible with Mogwai and able to become a Conjurer. Mogwai Reproduction Since Mogwai are animal-like and aggressive creatures, they tend to be territorial and prefer to be paired with others of the same phase since their bodies share more similarities in build. Mogwai are beings that can share energy with each other and this trait, of having similar builds or distribution of viscera, makes sharing energy easier in battle. Despite their territorial behavior, their penchant for fighting isn't for pairing reasons like in Solum animals. Certain territories just have appropriate environments for specific elements, or may be more charged with magic than other territories, allowing Mogwai of certain elements to flourish properly. This also applies to eggs spawned on said lands. Phases do not affect the way a Mogwai breeds, since their breeding requires an organ that both Yin and Yang Mogwai have, which is their core and the pieces it can produce. Fusing half of a core charged with the intent to breed will yield an egg regardless of the parents' phases. Obviously, for humans and Solum animals, this isn't the case. Mogwai are built to learn towards unity/similarity for strength (same phases), rather than balance (opposing phases), evolving this way due to their fondness for energy sharing in battles. In this case, human breeding would rely on "balance" where X and Y (female and male) are needed to create an offspring. While rare, some Mogwai are also born with the same balanced reproductive affinity as the majority of humans. An example of this would be Queen Han, who was chosen to be the ambassador for Mogwai to humans due to this shared trait. This aspect of Mogwai was created to explore the idea of alien reproduction, but in a more wholesome way, where it's based on love and consent as its main qualification. However, the Yin/Yang boundary was made to show their co-evolution with humans where certain qualities, mainly for the sake of camouflage, get copied. Mogwai Egg Spawning When two Mogwai spawn an egg, the offspring will take on the element of one parent and the species of the other. For example: Rex Kimaris is a Volt-element Manticore. One of her parents, Caesar, is a Light-element Manticore, so it can be inferred that her other parent, Long, a Dragon, is Volt-element. It can also be seen that all the Wukong siblings (Huo, Wire/Wei, and Xiu) are possibly half-siblings. For these three, it can be a little tricky since they are referred to as different Sanzaru "subspecies", but Sanzaru all in all. This could be chalked up to cultural reasons. While the look of the egg is dependent on the type of Mogwai inside the egg, the care of the egg will depend on the traditions of the parent Mogwai, or where the egg was spawned at. Certain Mogwai, like most Sahuagin and Isonade, will abandon eggs as soon as they are spawned, preferring to hide them in areas with no predators. Eggs spawned in Mt. Phrost, especially those from Minotaurs, are cared for by the entire community. Most of the time, one egg is spawned, but clutches or litters are possible. An example of this would be Troz Naberius, the Cerberus, who was stated to be the runt of her litter. There are certain eggs in-game that look like segmented clusters, indicating when the core pieces of the parents were fused, more than one offspring was spawned. This might be due to the parents' intent since the majority of the time, Mogwai will only spawn one egg. There are also anomalies, such as when a Phoenix perishes, there is a chance they are reborn automatically as a new egg which hosts a clone of the deceased. Another oddity is with Conjurers that get reincarnated have their souls placed into a random egg that was spawned at the time, and they hatch like regular Mogwai, albeit their memories catch up as they grow older. An example of this would be Nile Foras, who died as a human, but came back as a Cetus that traveled with a pod (before splitting off from the group) according to NPCs on Sporegano Archipelago. Conjurers A Solum human with a reproductive divergence (choosing "unity" over "balance") can be read as them being able to Conjure for Mogwai. Belle Reed, in-game, specifically states that Conjurers make up only 4% of the populace. Their rarity allows Mogwai to choose their human partners carefully, as well as choose not to partner up at all, since their society does not really consider such camaraderie mandatory. It's merely an amplification of power for those who seek it. To further expand on this, due to the way Mogwai interact with each other, and their propensity for mating with those of a similar phase, humans ended up evolving a certain way as well, where humans with similar reproductive appetites become what are called "Conjurers," as previously stated. For example, a human branded as Yin that prefers the company of other Yin humans can be a Conjurer due to the behavior being relatable to the majority of Mogwai. For Wuji Conjurers, however, they can pact with any phase, but it requires more exertion in terms of magic because the energy flow has to fill in the blanks for the discrepancy in various factors: from the more apparent like differences in body development, to minute details like farther variance in vocal range. To humans, such a state of being would be merely considered a reproductive anomaly, but for Mogwai, it is their norm and can be seen as usable in terms of battle. To Solum humans, said anomaly is considered an uncommon divergence, yet it is not viewed as a threat as it doesn't distress or threaten one's life. While they are born with the trait, which makes them viable to be a Conjurer, being a Conjurer is not something they necessarily have to choose to do. Unlike Earth humans, Solum humans do not see such a trait as a hindrance. They have no reference point or a reason to hate reproductive divergences because, to them, men and women may have differences in body and ability, but have equal footing in moving about their world and that includes love. The only humans that tend to be feared are Snowverians, due to their hunting colonies, but this is societal and not biological. The same goes for Mogwai, actually. Solum Traditions On top of reproductive divergences, despite the differences between X/Y, Female/Male, or Yin/Yang, there are no restrictions on the way an individual may act or dress on Solum. That's why some Yin Mogwai in HEARTBEAT tend to dress "traditionally masculine," in Earth terms, but retain referring to themselves in female titles, such as mother or miss. They do not consider it as male dress and they have no reference point for it being as such, since Solum is not Earth. Same goes for Yang Mogwai having tendencies of being nurturing which is seen as "traditionally feminine," also in Earth terms, but retain male titles. Titles such as king or queen, denoting male or female respectively, are merely out of convenience and does not regress or impede their societal progress, so they don't think much of it. This can even go as far as in naming. For many on Solum, names can be whatever they wish. Some may sound "traditionally masculine," such as "Klein" or "Rex," but to them, they do not read it as such since again, they have no reference point. note: most the humans were given more "traditional" names to differentiate them from Mogwai, but then again, there are humans like [[Rebecca Ondo|Beck] or Patch that have "traditionally masculine" names despite being female. The only rule set or true Solum tradition they have is their preference for one-syllable first names.] Magic and Humans All humans can use magic, but Conjurers must make extra effort to use non-conjuring magic. A good example would be to see magical potential as a set of six blocks. For a non-Conjurer, they can allocate all these blocks into the magical ability they are born with. For a Conjurer, four of these blocks have already been allocated into conjuration magic, and with only two left, their non-conjuration magic that they are born with tend to be weaker than other humans. A non-Conjurer that has the magical ability for super-strength can be incredibly strong, whereas a Conjurer that has this ability cannot exert themselves as much as the former. Another easy way to see this is to think of humans as being born with pre-determined RPG classes. Conjurers fall into the summoner role and their magic is devoted to such activities, which make them fall flat when attempting to emulate another class. However, Conjurer abilities include being able to hide objects in shadows, casted by the Tenebrean sun, similar to their Mogwai partners, and pull them back up whenever. This allows them to access a personal "hammerspace" that Mogwai have. In-game, because of this ability, Eve does not travel with a bag. In other words, their ability is literally conjuration. A Conjurer's other magical powers tend to be more discreet because their magic is allocated to this ability instead. For example, Ann has an iron liver, allowing her to drink as much as she wants, whereas Patch has perfect pitch, with allows her to attract Mogwai using made-up melodies, and Eve ages much slower physically. All of these are very low-tier abilities since their main magic potential goes into conjuration. Then again, due to the rediscovery of tech, humans are less likely to use magic in their normal lives, and when they do, it tends to be very weak magic. For Conjurers, their magic becomes downplayed even further. Living Together Many Mogwai and humans try to live in harmony on Solum. Non-Conjurers and non-pacted Mogwai can still work together, and many of them do so. An example would be Cu Sith that work in Smallmart. They aren't pacted, but love assissting humans. Some humans may even choose to fight alongside Mogwai, regardless of a pact, but their bond isn't as versatile as it is with a Conjurer, who can commune with her pacted partners telepathically in battle. Solum humans and Mogwai tend to butt heads over territory, with one species hailing from explorers with a colonization streak, and another being territorial purists. After the great war, with cargo ships and tech shot down and destroyed, humans went native momentarily, allowing them to rebuild their society, alongside Mogwai once again, from the ground-up to avoid conflict. While some issues still arise, they're not as bad as before. However, some Mogwai dislike Solum humans due to past abuse and want to eradicate them from Solum. Thankfully, these are a small minority of Mogwai, and the majority of Mogwai have learned to adapt and properly utilize human integration to their advantage, such as creating tools or accommodations to squeeze humans out of their money. Mogwai and Battle When in their default, animalistic forms, Mogwai will often, but not always, fight without the use of weapons. Only in their human forms do they need to utilize weaponry in battle. A Mogwai will choose to master only one type of weapon in its lifetime. Their penchant for said weapon is determined at birth. However, there are some Mogwai that choose not to use weapons at all. Weapons a Mogwai will use can range from the typical, including swords or lances, to the bizarre (like umbrellas or shears). Regardless of what they use, Mogwai will pair this with magic to better display their proficiency in battle. Pacted Mogwai will utilize "HEART" during battle, enabling them to accumulate more energy from their human partners and vice versa. By doing so, they can unleash stronger than average skills that they normally cannot perform on their own. Conjurers may also use HEART moves, but this type of skill requires rigorous training and generally, only Combat Conjurers can accomplish such feats. Category:Lore